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Midd-West routed by Danville

By Arthur Dowell 5 min read
Bloomsburg Press Enterprise/Bill Hughes Midd-West’s Ethan Schlief crosses the goal line for a touchdown against Danville at Danville on Friday night. Danville won 62-6.

DANVILLE -- Midd-West went into Friday's game wanting to limit Danville's passing attack.

Unfortunately for the Mustangs, Danville didn't need it to succeed, capitalizing on a great rushing performance by Ty Stauffer in a 62-6 win.

And though he wasn't scoring early for the Ironmen, he was certainly the catalyst for a team that scored a touchdown on each of their first seven possessions. Stauffer had four runs of 20-plus yards, his longest going for 51 on the first offensive snap of the game.

"That's all the [offensive] line. They really put it together tonight," Stauffer said. "Last week, holes were open that normally are, but this week, they created holes the size you can drive a truck through."

Stauffer, though, wasn't held out of the end zone for too long, rushing for three touchdowns in 8 minutes, 19 seconds to close out the scoring for the first half.

All told, he rushed for 203 yards on 13 carries.

"It's good to get Ty going. He's worked extremely hard in the offseason," Danville coach Mike Brennan said. "He's a diligent worker, a tough kid and he's got skills. He's a workhorse for us."

The Ironmen were efficient offensively, needing no more than six plays on any scoring drive.

The lanes stayed open in the second half with Aaron Johnson going untouched for a 59-yard scamper for a one-play drive.

Johnson also showed his separation skills in the first quarter, reeling in a 65-yard touchdown pass from Zach Gordon while in stride.

"Defensively, I thought our guys were really aggressive," Midd-West coach Lance Adams said. "Danville's running game really was more than we could handle. We didn't want them throwing the ball, but they didn't have to. When they did, they also did that successfully."

Three times they only need a pair of snaps before adding six. The opening drive started with Stauffer's longest run before Gordon found Carson Persing for the game's first points.

On Danville's first possession of the second quarter, Stauffer started things with a 41-yard rush and finished matters with a 10-yard score on the ensuing play.

Then after setting up shop at the Mustangs' 18-yard-line on an interception by Jack Smiley, the Ironmen again called Stauffer's number. He took the second snap six yards for his second rushing touchdown.

His hat trick went for seven yards as the Ironmen started in great field position following an interception by Cameron Kiersch.

Kiersch also had a 24-yard interception return in the second quarter.

Despite not needing to throw the ball around a ton, Danville had its success there too.

Gordon finished a perfect 5-for-5 with 148 yards and three touchdowns. His other passing score was a nine yard completion to Persing in the opening frame.

The Ironmen didn't have an incompletion until the fourth when a receiver dropped a sure pass and later caught a would-be touchdown out of bounds.

"Overall, I thought our o-line did a great job, and took control from the very beginning," Brennan said. "I was happy with the [offensive] performance in all fazes."

And though Danville's defense didn't have much down time, they didn't show any signs of tiredness. The Mustangs were held to 26 yards on 20 carries rushing. Quarterback Christopher Regester was on his heels all night, having nowhere to go with the ball (three interceptions) or outside the pocket (averaged one yard per carry.)

"Our defensive staff does a great job in preparing the kids," Brennan said. "Our kids are competing on every snap."

The Mustangs' lone score came on an 11-play, 71-yard drive. A dropped interception, a costly penalty by Danville and a fourth down conversion led to Ethan Schlief finishing it with a four-yard run.

The Mustangs have committed nine turnovers in the first two contests.

"I am worried about the turnovers," Adams said. "We put the ball on the ground a couple times tonight … and we threw a couple ill-advised passes too. Those are things we are going to have to clean up, and quickly."

Danville 62, Midd-West 6

Midd-West 0 6 0 0 -- 6

Danville 21 34 7 0 -- 62

First quarter

D -- Carson Persing 12 pass from Zach Gordon (Aaron Johnson kick), 11:17

D -- Johnson 65 pass from Gordon (Johnson kick), 8:39

D -- Persing 9 pass from Gordon (Johnson kick), 2:24

Second quarter

M -- Ethan Schlief 4 run (kick failed), 9:48

D -- Ty Stauffer 10 run (Johnson kick), 9:28

D -- Stauffer 6 run (Johnson kick), 7:35

D -- Cameron Kiersch 24 interception return (Johnson kick), 7:17

D -- Mason Raup 5 run (kick failed), 2:16

D -- Stauffer 7 run (Garrett Hoffman kick), 1:09

Third quarter

D -- Johnson 59 run (Hoffman kick), 8:49

M D

First downs 5 16

Rushing-yds. 20-26 35-348

Passing 8-21-3 8-10-0

Passing yds. 105 179

Total yds. 131 527

Fumbles-lost 3-1 0-0

Penalties-yds. 0-0 6-55

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Midd-West: Ethan Schlief 11-18, TD; Christian Regester 7-7; Everest Wilson; Austin Dorman, 3-(-2). Danville: Ty Stauffer 13-203, 3 TDs; Aaron Johnson 2-59, TD; Kory King 10-55; Zach Gordon 3-23; Carson Persing 1-14; Mason Raup 1-5, TD; Sam Meloy 1-(-1); Jack Gibson 1-(-3); Team 2-(-3); Cameron Kiersch 1(-4).

PASSING -- Midd-West: Regester 8-21-3, 105 yds. Danville: Gordon 5-5-0, 148 yds., 3 TDs; Madden Patrick 3-5-0, 31 yds.

RECEIVING -- Midd-West: Corey Reinard 4-81; James Troup 3-17; Dorman 1-7. Danville: Persing 4-83, 2 TDs; Cole Duffy 2-27; Johnson 1-65, TD; Luke Huron 1-4.

Starting at /week.